Americans United - Gideonshttps://www.au.org/tags/gideons
enWhat’s OK And What’s Not OK: A School Prayer Primerhttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/what-s-ok-and-what-s-not-ok-a-school-prayer-primer
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Prayer in public schools is fine -- as long as it&#039;s truly voluntary and not coercive or school sponsored. </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>Yesterday was “See You at the Pole,” an annual event where public school students meet outside the building for a voluntary prayer session (often near a flagpole, hence the name – see <a href="http://www.yorkdispatch.com/ci_24167841/see-you-at-pole">this example</a>) usually before the school day begins.</p><p>The Religious Right expects Americans United to get all worked up about this. We really don’t – as long as the event is voluntary and student-run and school officials aren’t sponsoring or promoting it.</p><p>I’ve said this before, but it’s worth saying again: Americans United does not object to truly voluntary student religious expression in public schools. What we oppose is any religious exercise that smacks of coercion or school sponsorship.</p><p>Here are some ground rules:</p><p><strong>OK:</strong> Students who want to do it meet before school for a prayer session. No one is compelled to be there. Administrators neither promote nor denigrate the event.</p><p><strong>Not OK:</strong> School administration sponsors a prayer event or encourages or pressures students to attend one.</p><p><strong>OK:</strong> Student says individual prayer at the start of the school day, before lunch, prior to taking a test, etc.</p><p><strong>Not OK:</strong> Student uses public address system during a school-sponsored event, such as a football game or assembly, to impose prayer on everyone.</p><p><strong>OK:</strong> Student reads the Bible, the Koran, the Upanishads, the Book of Mormon, sermons by the pope, the writings of L. Ron Hubbard, etc. during a study period or free time.</p><p><strong>Not OK:</strong> Student or school officials use the school P.A. system to compel everyone to listen to a devotional reading from a religious text.</p><p><strong>OK:</strong> Students learn about the role of religion in history, art, literature, etc. Approach is objective.</p><p><strong>Not OK:</strong> Students take part in a “Bible class” that is akin to a Sunday School lesson. It is assumed that the fundamentalist interpretation of the Bible is true. Other interpretations and faiths are not discussed or are denigrated.</p><p><strong>OK:</strong> Secondary school students form after-school “equal access clubs.” All religious and non-religious clubs are treated equally. No student is compelled or pressured to attend these clubs. They are run by students.</p><p><strong>Not OK:</strong> Christian equal access clubs are given preference, or students are denied the right to form other types of clubs (such as atheist clubs or Gay-Straight Alliances) even though a variety of religious clubs are up and running.</p><p><strong>OK:</strong> A student gives a religious tract or book to a friend who wants to receive it.</p><p><strong>Not OK:</strong> School invites Gideons or other evangelistic groups into the school to distribute sectarian material. No other groups are given this access.</p><p>This isn’t too difficult to figure out. Anything that smacks of coercive or school-sponsored religious activity isn’t going to fly. Truly voluntary religious expression is permitted. The Supreme Court has been quite clear on this. If you doubt that, read the school prayer decisions from <a href="http://www.oyez.org/cases/1960-1969/1961/1961_468/">1962</a> and <a href="http://www.oyez.org/cases/1960-1969/1962/1962_142">1963</a>.</p><p>Justice William O. Douglas put it well in his concurring opinion in the ’63 case, <em>Abington Township School District v. Schempp</em>: “The State must be steadfastly neutral in all matters of faith, and neither favor nor inhibit religion. In my view, government cannot sponsor religious exercises in the public schools without jeopardizing that neutrality.”</p><p>So, next year students will be free to go to the pole or not – as long as it’s their decision. </p></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/school-prayer">School Prayer</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/see-you-pole">See You At the Pole</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/school-prayer">School Prayer</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/william-o-douglas">William O. Douglas</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/gideons">Gideons</a></span></div></div>Thu, 26 Sep 2013 15:12:44 +0000Rob Boston8985 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/what-s-ok-and-what-s-not-ok-a-school-prayer-primer#commentsBuncombe’s Bible Battle: Time For Change At A N.C. Public Schoolhttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/buncombe%E2%80%99s-bible-battle-time-for-change-at-a-nc-public-school
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Just because your faith happens to have numerical superiority doesn’t give you the right to use a public institution to impose it on others. </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>Change can be difficult, but it’s often necessary. Just because you’ve been doing something for a long time doesn’t mean you should keep on doing it – especially if what you are doing isn’t legal.</p><p>Public education officials in Buncombe County, N.C., are learning this hard lesson right now. The community is ensnared in a flap over the role of religion in its schools. Officials are crafting new policies, and we hope they do the right thing.</p><p>It all started when Ginger Strivelli, whose son attends North Windy Ridge Elementary School, contacted the school after the boy came home with a Bible in December. Strivelli’s son explained that the Gideons had come by and dropped off the Bibles, which were made available to students.</p><p>When Strivelli called the school to find out what was going on, she was told that other religious groups would be given the same access. She <a href="http://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/bunk-in-buncombe-north-carolina-school-allowed-bible-handout-but-balks-at">decided to call the school’s bluff</a> and showed up with several copies of a book about Paganism.</p><p>School officials weren’t so eager to distribute that. (What a surprise!) They told Strivelli that a new policy on religion was being drafted.</p><p>The school board <a href="http://www.citizen-times.com/article/20120203/NEWS/302030035/Religion-schools-debate-draws-crowd?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CFrontpage%7Cs">met recently</a> to discuss the matter, and Strivelli was there. The gutsy mom didn’t hesitate to tell board members that they need to stop promoting religion. She pointed out that other parents objected to the Gideon Bibles but were reluctant to speak out publicly.</p><p>“I am the only one who is courageous enough to stand up to your bullying,” she said. “Many pastors have come up here and read scripture. This is not a church. Look around you; this is a public school board meeting.”</p><p>The Asheville <em>Citizen-Times</em> reported that the proposed policy says that school employees, school officials and volunteers “while acting in their official capacities shall not use their positions to endorse, promote, or disparage a particular religious belief, viewpoint or practice.”</p><p>It also requires the superintendent to provide regular training to staff and also encourages principals to consult with the superintendent “if they believe that a school-sponsored activity raises a question” of church-state separation.</p><p>AU’s Legal Department weighed in on this matter last month and warned education officials that the district's policy on literature distribution was problematic, so we’re glad to see the board take this seriously. The new policy sounds like a good start.</p><p>Alas, not everyone is on board. A local pastor, H.D. Scoggins, groused, “That is what brings us here tonight, the tyranny of a few seeking to force its will on the majority.”</p><p>And James Ponder, a Baptist minister, insisted that the Gideons should be allowed into the schools, asserting, “We need to make sure [students] have truth.”</p><p>Here’s what Pastors Scoggins, Ponder and those who think like them just don’t get: Your truth is someone else’s falsehood. Worse than that, it might even be their heresy. The Bible, which you regard as inerrant and infallible, is to others a mix of moral teaching and metaphors. To still others it’s a collection of fables.</p><p>Despite these differences, we all need to get along. One way we do that it by not using government-run institutions – like public schools – to force any religion onto young people. We leave the decision about what religion – if any – to expose children to up to their parents.</p><p>Here’s something else the pastors and their pals don’t get: When it comes to religion, <em>the majority does not rule. </em>Just because your faith happens to have numerical superiority doesn’t give you the right to use a public institution to impose it on others. The Bill of Rights puts our core freedoms beyond the reach of the majority.</p><p>This is basic stuff, but it seems that even after 221 years, some people still don’t get it.</p><p>An ally of Strivelli’s did some <a href="http://www.mountainx.com/article/40047/Pagan-mom-live-tweets-Buncombe-Board-of-Ed-debate-on-religious-activities-in-schools">live tweeting </a>from the board meeting. Her tweets show that many people in the community are among those who just don’t get it.</p><p>Members of the Buncombe County Board of Education have a chance to say they do get it. Here’s hoping that they don’t screw it up.</p></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/religious-distributions-events-and-evangelism-during-school-day">Religious Distributions, Events and Evangelism during the School Day</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/buncombe-county-school-system">Buncombe County School System</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/north-carolina">north carolina</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/ginger-strivelli">Ginger Strivelli</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/gideons">Gideons</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/bibles">Bibles</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Location:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/our-work/grassroots/north-carolina">North Carolina</a></span></div></div>Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:42:00 +0000Rob Boston6732 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/buncombe%E2%80%99s-bible-battle-time-for-change-at-a-nc-public-school#comments